The Reedy River String Band has its roots in Greenville, but the acoustic “newgrass” trio has found a second home in Charleston. The band’s Jan. 17 show at the Pour House is its second in less than a year and its sixth overall.
“We love playing the Pour House,” said band member Sterling Waite. “We’ve played on the deck stage and have done well bringing folks out there to listen to us, and then we’ve also had the pleasure of playing on the indoor stage, opening for some bands that I’m a big fan of, like the West Coast String Band.”
Waite, who sings lead and plays mandolin and fiddle in the band, told the Charleston City Paper that he and his bandmates, guitarist Rush Morgan and upright bassist Mark Dye, have been thrilled by how Charleston, and the Pour House specifically, have embraced the group.
“The shows have generally done very well there,” Waite added, “and we’ve been pleasantly surprised by the reception in Charleston.”
At this point, perhaps Waite shouldn’t be so surprised anymore when the Reedy River String Band goes over well. Since the band first formed in 2022, its mix of daredevil acoustic exploration, pure bluegrass vocal harmonies and cheeky humor has caught on.
The band started drawing hundreds of people to its show in the Upstate almost immediately, and it appeared on the main stage of the massive Fall for Greenville festival in 2024. Before the recording of its first full-length album, Woodland Drifters, the band was popular enough to have toured Europe twice.
“That certainly was the goal, to move in that direction,” Waite said of the band’s popularity. “But I’ve been very grateful for the progress that we’ve made so quickly. The band is only four years old as of October 2025, so it’s moved the needle a lot in a short amount of time.”
If you listen to the band play, however, it’s not difficult to figure out why it has attracted such a devoted fanbase.
Waite’s lyrics alternate between charming and charmingly hilarious. For example, one of his “love songs” includes the request, “Can I put my car up on blocks in your yard?”
Morgan is a dazzling talent on acoustic guitar, and Dye’s decades of experience on upright bass make him a rock-solid foundation for some lightning-fast solos. Throw in an entertaining and hypnotic cover version of Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb,” and that’s a pretty enjoyable combo.
“A lot of times, people will come up to us and say, ‘I really like it, and I normally don’t like bluegrass,’ ” Waite said. “So, what that tells me is that what we’re doing is outside of the box enough to draw in people who aren’t hardcore traditional fans. They don’t use the term ‘rock energy,’ but I think that’s what they’re getting at when they’re all pumped up after a show.”
The three members of the band have solo projects and side-groups with which they work, and it’s interesting to hear those projects and then listen to the Reedy River String Band. Dye spent years in the prog-rock jam-band The Work. Morgan’s music leans towards rustic folk. And The Sterling Waite Band is a danceable mix of funky covers and originals.
Waite said those ingredients add up to something unique when the musicians return to this band.
“We’ve got Mark’s experience in The Work, which did jam band stuff,” Waite said. “And then my rock and funky stuff. And we definitely pull from those genres and influences. Mark, especially, was a big influence in coming up with these complex arrangements and crazy sections where we’re free to improvise and then figure out how we’re going to get back to the main part of the song.”
Regardless of the formula for the Reedy River String Band’s music, the result has been a surprising success.
“We’ve been humbled and so encouraged by all the support,” Waite said. “It has far exceeded any expectations I had.”
IF YOU WANT TO GO: Doors open at 8 p.m., Jan. 17, Pour House, 1977 Maybank Highway., Charleston. Tickets range from $12-$15.
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